Calming of the Storm
by Lilith626
Summary: An adventure following a pathfinder campaign in the setting of Faerun. A rogue, druid, and fighter find themselves shipwrecked on the beach of northern Chult only to discover they are to play a significant role in preventing the rising of the evil God Moander. Minimally edited, please PM me to beta. Rated T for content.
1. Prelude

The Calming of the Storm: Chronicled Adventures of the Heroes of Nyranzaru

Written by Alluela Silversgleaming

Forward

I was born and raised in the port city of Nyranzaru on the Northern peak of the peninsula of Chult to two loving parents who were both shunned from their elven communities for being half-breeds. My earliest memories consist of being nestled into my mother's arms as she sat in her rocking chair singing me to sleep. Her melodic voice told of tales of damsels in distress rescued by brave and valiant knights who were sworn upon their birthright to serve and protect. I went to sleep each night safe in the knowledge that those heroes were out there looking after each and every one of us. I was certain of it.

Over time, though, that certainty diminished. I was newly enrolled in primary school, my brother freshly conceived, when my family was devastated by the news my father's ship was seized and pillaged by pirates. During the raid my father fought with all his might; however, succumbed to captain's blade. My mother took up the task of providing for my family working as a barmaid in the dock's district. She handled the dual role of both provider and care giver with grace, but it took a toll on her ailing physique.

Only six months after my father's death she went into premature labor. Upon her insistence I left my mother's side to find someone that could help. Recalling the stories of the gallant knights I ran directly to the captain of the guard. My request was denied outright, as the life of a lowly barmaiden was not of concern to those whom served the mayor. Given directives to speak to the local temple, I was given audience and returned home with a healer of the church of Torm. Upon our return, we found my mother crumpled on the floor in a pool of her own blood. The healer unsuccessfully attempted to revive both my mother and the stillborn child.

The knight I became an orphan changed me. I realized that the stories were wrong. Heroes aren't born, nor are people 'taught' to be valiant. Being a hero is about looking at the path ahead of you and making a series of choices for the good of others. The story I am about to tell is about the unlikely alliance of individuals thrust into a situation where a choice was made to try to save the world from the rise of an evil God, and although mistakes were made, the intent was always true.

In writing this I realize I am hardly an omniscient being my intent is for it to be read in third verse. Enjoy!

Alluela Silversgleaming


	2. Chapter 1

Ciara groggily woke to the sound of knocking on her door. She had been out until the early morn dancing at the Tathmiel reception, fulfilling her commission to accompany the noble, Aldaer Tathmiel, to his cousin's hand fasting ceremony.

"What?" The young girl answered the insistent pounding as she rolled over, placing the pillow over her head.

"Oh good, you're awake." Her mother, Aurora Summersblade, entered the room setting a platter of bread and berries on her night stand.

"I suppose I am." Ciara swung her legs over the side of the bed and quickly sat up.

"How was your evening?" Aurora inquired.

"The festivities were quite enjoyable, the company not as much." She answered truthfully.

"Young Tathmiel doesn't share that assessment. I just received word that he has specifically asked for your company at the Beltane festival next month…"

Ciara was about to object when she was cut off. "Ma…"

"You and I both know what the endorsement of the Tathmiel family could do for this business, Ciara."

"Yes, Madam."

Aurora climbed the social ladder from bakers daughter to respected courtesan, and currently the Madam the most reputable brothel in the Grand Ward of Calimport. Her goal was adorning herself with as many jewels that her small frame could support. As she aged the role of bread winner transferred to her beautiful chestnut haired daughter. Born to a human mother and elven father, even as a half breed, Ciara had to fight off attention from her peers.

"So? What say you?" Aurora questioned.

Ciara wasn't sure why her mother bothered to ask. As much as Aurora gave the illusion of choice, all the ladies of the brothel knew you didn't say no to the Madam. She would never take out her displeasure brutally; however, her form of reparation included the least tasteful jobs and stifling of salary. The latter was of little concern to Ciara who was more than capable of getting her hands on whatever she required. It was the former that plastered the fake smile on the girls' face. "Tell young Tathmiel I would be delighted."

Aurora nodded in satisfaction. "Wonderful! With that out of the way, eat your breakfast. You have archery in a half hour followed by dance practice."

"And this afternoon? Will I have some time to myself, then?"

"Have you finished that translation I asked you to complete last week? The party leaves tomorrow, and they paid well to get that deciphered."

"It's an ancient language, mother." Ciara disputed. "I told you when you gave it to me that their best option was to do magical 'comprehend languages', and even that isn't guaranteed."

"Don't get that tone with me." Aurora ordered. "As I told you, we were paid almost as much as a magical translation would cost, and they can't afford any more. After practice you can go to the library, but you are not allowed to go off with your friends until I have that translation in my hand. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Madam."

Aurora left and Ciara let the single tear that was caught in her eye slide down her face. She felt trapped in a life she never wanted. Her mother used her beauty and intelligence to enhance her own standing and she had never even met her father. According to her mother her father was an elven archer who stopped in Calimport for a day with his party on their route east to investigate reports of giants devastating small villages. Soon after word came in that the giants had been stopped; however, Aurora never saw nor heard from the archer again. Ciara's often wondered what it would be like to meet her father, what he would be like, and if he would accept her into his life.

She pulled herself out of her own head in order to eat a few bites from breakfast and grab her short bow to bring to class.

"You're late, Summers." The instructor stated as Ciara approached the class who were lined up in front of the targets.

"I am so sorry Master Chandler. I had a late night…"

Seanan Chandler silenced her apology. "What did I tell you the last time?"

"If I was late one more time I would have to sit out of class and re-string all the practice bows." She recanted the previous warning.

The instructor said nothing, only pointed over to the Halfling aid who was mending broken arrows at the work station next to the rack of practice bows. Ciara sighed and re-examined the thought that she should have rolled over the moment she heard the knock on her door and slept through the rest of the day. Ciara hated the process of restringing; however, her naturally nimble fingers made her proficient at the task. Luckily for her that proficiency made the job that much easier and before the hour was up all the practice bows were perfectly strung and available for use.

"Superb job, Ms. Summers." Chandler complemented as he reviewed her work. "You can spend the remainder of class on aisle 17."

"Thank you ser!" She quickly grabbed her bow and sprinted to her lane before the instructor had a chance to change his mind and issue her another task. Ciara lined her shot and was able to knock three arrows into the center of the target in succession.

"Not bad, princess. Have you ever attempted a moving target?" Daveak Carter inquired from the lane over. Dav Carter was the oldest son of the Port Marshall. His family's stable was located in the border of the Grand and Dock Ward. Ciara went to school with Dav's younger brother, Jonas, but due to what she believed to be aversion to her mother's station she had not engaged in social conversation with either Carter boy.

"Have you?" She asked him.

The boy chuckled. "I've been going quail hunting with my pop since I was seven."

"And at what age were you when you finally hit one?" She teased.

"Very funny." He jested. "I could take you out sometime; give you a few pointers. This afternoon, maybe?"

"Why Master Carter, if I didn't know better, I may think you were asking me out on a date."

"Would it be a crime if I did? I mean, I know that taking out the enchanting Ciara Summers usually comes with a lofty fee…"

"More than you could afford." She responded playfully.

"Much, I'm sure."

Ciara flirted with the idea of skipping out on the library and spending the afternoon with Dav. He was scraggy as little boy, but blossomed as he hit puberty into what she could only describe as tall, dark, and athletically handsome.

"There's no rule about you going out for on your own accord, is there?"

"There are many rules on the matter, but no, no ban on a single engagement."

"And if a single engagement turns into more?" He questioned.

"Then it gets more complicated." She explained. "Besides I'm busy this afternoon."

"I thought it was your nights that were reserved?"

Ciara shook her head. She had never had a boyfriend, or girlfriend, that lasted longer than a couple weeks. If the thought of dating a courtesan wasn't daunting enough, the reality was even worse. At this point she had been able to hold off on any appointments of a sexual nature, instead she served primarily as an event companion, but she knew it was only a matter of time before that changed. "Dav, I appreciate the offer, truly I do. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if you were the only man in this region that wasn't interested in such…"

"No, that would be Loron, but that's only because he has his eye on me."

Ciara snickered.

"Now that is the smile I have waited all morning to see. Comeon? Whatever it is, cancel."

"Very well." She agreed. It was easy, all she had to do was convince her mother that she spent all afternoon at the library and still couldn't translate the full text. There were a few words/phrases that she had deciphered already, that would have to be enough. "Pick me up from dance?"

"I will even pack a picnic." He confirmed.

Ciara arrived at the dance studio and was greeted by her best friend, Tamarie Wolfswift. The Wolfswift's owned a locks shop on the other side of the district. It wasn't until an eleven-year-old Ciara was rescued from Tamarie and her father from a pick-pocketing 'misunderstanding' that the two young girls met. From that day on the girls were inseparable until only recently when Aurora intensified Ciara's training. Tamarie begged her father to pay for this dance class in order to spend some time with her friend.

"So? How was the party?" Tamarie asked for the details from her previous evening.

"Tedious." Ciara answered.

"I'm sure." The younger girl rolled her eyes. "Beautiful dresses, dazzling jewelry, an extravagant ballroom with a lavish buffet, all topped off with a Tathmiel on your arm. It sounds absolutely dreadful."

"I told you before Tams, you are more than willing to switch places with me if you would like." Ciara offered again. She loved being a part of the Wolfswift family. Galan and Marion treated her like a daughter by giving her guidance and support in a nurturing environment. In order to remain out of trouble Galan requested her to assistance in the shop with selling merchandise and later making home visits to install and disable locks.

"As if the Madam would employ me for anything more than a caretaker." Tamarie responded self-pityingly. It wasn't that Tamarie didn't have the physical appearance to impress the clientele, Aurora simply held a high standard when it came to her girls' social class. There was also the fact that Tamarie had the personality of a trickster that tended to be outputting to those that didn't know and already love her like Ciara did.

"That's one step up from whore." Ciara argued. "You can dress up the word all you like, but that's what it is."

"Ciara, if you despise it so much then why do it?"

"Because, mother would make my life a living hell if I didn't." She responded. "Do you have any idea the type of connections that Madam Summersblade has in this town?"

"Then… maybe you should get out." Tamarie replied. She would hate seeing her best friend leave, but she would grin and bear it if it meant Ciara could be happy. "They are calling for adventurers in Thindar to battle dragons in the peninsula of Chult. Apparently they're on the rise in that region. The ship docks here tomorrow morning."

Ciara chuckled. "Right? Can you really see me battling a dragon?"

"Maybe." Tamarie entertained the thought. "You're decent on a bow, and besides, there will be plenty of warrior types doing the majority of the battling. You can use the distraction to steal the dragon's treasure."

"Decent? I can hit a bulls-eye when the target is standing stationary 20 meters ahead. I doubt a dragon is going to hold position waiting to be attacked." Ciara verbalized her own fears of following her father's path of becoming an adventurer.

"That's what training and decent equipment is for." Tamarie encouraged. "It's not like I'm trying to get rid of you, but you and I both know that you are destined for much more than a courtesan in your mother's brothel."

"Would you come with?"

Tamarie shrugged. "I still have classes to complete. Maybe when they send out the next call?"

"I'll think about it." Ciara conceded, although she was tempted to wait until Tamarie could go with her.

"Ladies, circle up so we can practice Ya Merna Ta." The instructor, Lady Elsie Brewersfield, called out. Elsie was a young aristocrat, and the most beautiful human that Ciara had ever laid eyes on. Due to the fact that they males and females took classes separately Ciara often found herself volunteering to be Elsie's male lead when demonstrating a new dance.

The girls all broke from their side conversations to gather in a circle and hold hands as the musicians in the corner started the play. Elsie started by calling out each step during a round and eventually allowed the dancers to visually follow along, and only calling out the turns. Dancing came easy to Ciara, and fortunately so as more often than not she was expected to not only perform the steps flawlessly, but enchant and entertain her partner in the process. It was in class that she was able to appreciate the art for what it was, and enjoy the movement for her own sake.

As class wrapped up Ciara spotted Dav in the distance approaching on horseback with packed saddle bags. Tamarie glanced over, curious to what her friend was looking at.

"What is he doing here?" She questioned quietly.

"We have a date." Ciara beamed.

"You have a what? Why did you not mention this before?" Tamarie asked accusatory.

"It never came up."

Tamarie rolled her eyes. This wasn't the type of thing she should be expected to bring up for Ciara. "I thought you said you had that project to finish for your mom."

"I do, but it's either spending the day in the library researching a dead language that I'm not going to find any more information on or a day in the desert with Daveak Carter."

"Well I know which one I would choose, but isn't taskmaster Summersblade going to have something to say about that?"

"She would if she knew."

"Are you really going to try bluffing your mother?"

Ciara looked out the window at the young man dismounting his steed. She admired his glistening biceps under the hot desert sun.

"Okay, point taken." Tamarie agreed. She started backing up her supplies for her next class. "Come around sometime when you have the chance. Ma and pa miss you."

"I will. Tell everyone I said hi." Ciara promised before leaving to meet Dav outside.

"I hope you don't mind sharing." Daveak offered her a boost onto the horses back. Although she was more than capable of accomplishing this task on her own, her first lesson in training to be a companion was allowing the male to do the small favors for her. Instead of resisting the offer she graciously accepted the boost and grabbed onto the reigns as Daveak mounted behind her.

"Not at all." She savored the moment of his arms wrapping around her. "What's his name?" She patted the neck.

"Thunder." He replied boastfully. The steed was his pride and joy. "He's only four, but I've been training him since he was a foal. He's great with new riders. I've been using him to teach the Redraven kids the basics."

"That's what you want, isn't it?"

"What?" He questioned.

"Take over the stable, teach kids to ride; it's what you want to do with your life." She explained.

"It's not as glamorous as the life you're bound to lead, but yes, I could see myself making a career out of it. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've started to seriously think about the life I want to live, and the only thing I know is that I don't want to be a courtesan."

"That seems easy enough."

"You'd think." Ciara responded sarcastically. "You've obviously never met my mother. There is no saying no to her."

Dav stifled a laugh. There was a reason the Carter children were urged to keep their distance from the young Ciara. Dav was a five-year-old boy when their family was nearly split apart by the patriarch's infidelity. The Marshall claimed that he was lured by the courtesan's feminine wiles after a late night at the pub with some friends and swore on his own life to remain faithful if given another chance. It took time and absolute sobriety to win his wives trust back, but the discretion remained ingrained in her memory. "Aren't you saying no to her right now?" He surmised.

She shrugged. "It's easier to apologize than ask permission. Besides, what she was asking me to do was near impossible without the proper resources. So instead of driving myself crazy inside the library it made sense to do some practical target practice. Now all I need to do is sell that to her, or… tell her I was in the library and still couldn't figure it out. I haven't figured out which line to use yet."

"You have some time for that." Dav responded as they made it out of the cities limits and journeyed toward the Southern edge of the Calim Desert.

Growing up Dav's father refused to let the boys travel too deep into the desert. There was a legend that the land was actually the battleground of two imprisoned genies, it was told that propensity towards harsh sandstorms was caused by the genies minds becoming active. The Marshall wasn't sure that he bought the story of the imprisoned genies, but the unforgiving environment and accounts of phoenix' being spotted in the region were enough to detour the man from venturing too far with his young sons.

Daveak brought his horse to a halt as soon as he approached the rock quarry that the Carter's used as their personal camp site when they went on their hunting trips. He unloaded supplies before leading Ciara to the lookout point where he dropped a blanket for the archers to sit on a wait for their prey. While waiting Dav started played the game of how close he could get without encroaching on her personal space before Ciara took it upon herself to lean into his chest, relishing in the moment as he combed his fingers through her silky hair. The view was spectacular and although it looked to be nothing more than sporadic rocks, cacti, and tumble weeds it wasn't long before a bevy of quail hopped into view along the sand beneath them.

Ciara nudged Dav before sitting up to grab her short bow. He followed her lead and both archers stood to draw their weapons. She took her first shot and just barely missed causing the flock to fly up into the air. After expending eight arrows each, four birds were taken down and the rest of the flock had flown off. They climbed down from their perch to retrieve their lunch.

"That one was mine!" Ciara pointed at the one bird she victoriously slew with her arrow sticking out from its chest.

"I think you got it in the heart." He replied awestruck with the precision. "Have you been studying anatomy?"

"I've taken a class or two." She explained. According to her mother the study of the anatomy was vital to the training of the 'seductive arts', as she called it.

"Let's get these cooked up." Dav suggested as they each grabbed two birds and trekked back into the quarry. Ciara watched as Dav cleaned, seasoned, and cooked the birds. There were many skills she felt competent at, unfortunately she wasn't sure her ability to light a fire let alone sustain herself in the wilderness. That was one of the things she found herself thinking about as she contemplated answering the call. She was a city girl, born and raised. Given the opportunity she probably could figure out how to fend for herself, but she was pretty sure the trial and error period wouldn't be pretty.

"Can I help with anything?" Ciara offered.

"Um… no, I think I got it." He answered back, impressed with the offer. He had dated his share of 'princesses' in his lifetime that refused to get their hands dirty. "Don't take offense, but I may have to revoke your princess title."

Ciara smiled. She knew the types; there were plenty that roamed the brothel that refused to use lavatories without having someone there to wipe their rear for them. She certainly wasn't going to take offense to be considered self-sufficient. "I was wondering where you got that impression in the first place. Did you not see me at the playground in primary school? I was always covered in sand."

"I am two years ahead." He reminded her.

"Yes, and?" She questioned. It wasn't as if he wasn't playing tag alongside his brother.

"Okay, I may have noticed you." He chuckled at the memory. "But I'm pretty sure I looked over the smudges of sand on your face due to being enthralled with your acrobatic feats on the monkey bars. That turning handstand thing was impressive."

"Enthralled?" She questioned as he prepared her plate with the bread and vegetation that he had brought from home before adding the meat.

"Yes, enthralled. Don't tell me that you don't know of the Summersblade women's ability to garner the attention of anyone they wish?"

"Then what took you so long?"

"Long story." He murmured sitting down opposite her as they used the large flat topped rock between them as a table.

"Thank you." She offered gratitude for the meal and dropped the line of questioning. "This is delicious."

"Thank you coming out this afternoon. I have a sneaking suspicion that regardless of the line you decide to use there's going to be some sort of reprimand for this, and I'm fairly certain you knew that as soon as you agreed."

Ciara nodded. "I'm an adult now, it's about time I started acting like it. I can't let her dictate my life." With that thought she sighed. "Of course, the adult thing to do would probably be to go back and tell her the truth."

"Probably." He replied. As much as he didn't want the afternoon to end he knew that if they didn't pack up when they were finished eating they wouldn't make it back to the city before the sun started to set.

"I don't regret it." She spoke up as soon as he stood from his seat. She approached him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Regardless of what she says or does, I'm glad I came."

Taking that as the signal he was looking for. Dav brought his hand under her chin and gently guiding her lips towards his for a kiss. She returned the gesture while wrapping her arms around his neck in an embrace.

The journey home was quiet as both pondered the implications of the afternoon. Daveak contemplated the conversation he would have with his mother about falling under the thrall of a Summersblade while Ciara thought about the different scenarios before her carefully considering how long she could handle living the life of a courtesan. He dropped her off outside the gates of the brothel.

"So, what now?" He questioned.

"I told you, beyond a single engagement…"

"It gets complicated. Ciara, I'm okay with that." He interrupted her.

Ciara doubted that. What Daveak wanted was a wife and children who all worked together to run the stable. Any way she pictured it, that wasn't going to be her life. "I'll see you tomorrow at archery." She stated instead.

"Of course." He understood, and snuck in another kiss before re-mounting Thunder.

She barely stepped through the front door when she was instructed by her mother's hand maiden to report to the business chambers at once. She said little more than the adventuring party was there eagerly awaiting her translation.

Ciara opened the door to the business office to a captive audience consisting of three male adventurers and her mother. Due to similarities in their jawline she assumed that they all came from the same family. All appeared to be in their late teens and early 20s and new to the adventuring world, but had the potential to be great warriors each with their own weapon of choice; the oldest and most charming looking donning a great sword, the middle boy and intense looking carrying a crossbow, and the youngest and volatile seeming a great axe. Their weapons and armor appeared to be newly purchased from a smith east in the Hammer Ward, if she had to venture a guess.

"It's about time you returned." Aurora greeted her. "I trust you have what I've asked for."

"I have to admit, I am intrigued by this document. Where did you find it?" Ciara asked the men as she pulled out the scroll and what she could get from the translation from her sack.

The oldest, and most responsible looking of the young men, answered her inquiry while the youngest appeared distracted by the open door and courtesans walking past in their night robes.

"I've been a member of the city guard in the Hammer Ward for the last two years. After hearing reports of giants being spotted in the Marching Mountains a group of us went out to survey the area. We were attacked by three one-eyed humanoids that stood almost ten feet tall. After a harrowing battle we took them out, but lost three men in the process. While looting the body we found that." The oldest pointed at the scroll. "My brothers and I were hoping that it may give some information on where they came from."

"Very well." Ciara sat down in an open chair. "What I can tell you from my research is that the humanoids you encountered were what have been identified as Cyclopes. They are an ancient and nearly extinct type of giant. The language predates that of Giant and unless you can find a library that specializes in the dialect it's not going to be fully translated without magical assistance."

"So, you didn't do your job!" The crossbowman responded angrily. "We better get our money back." "I was able to pick out a word here and there and what I can figure out is that it is a story about an ancient warlord that reigned in this region prior to the existence of man, but no, I cannot fully translate the text."

"Does it reference a source of treasure?" The oldest questioned.

'Treasure hunters, figures.' She thought to herself. "These creatures aren't treasure hoarders, they're warriors. They value weapons, armor, and this…" She held up the scroll and clarified, "their history. You may be able to sell it to one of the libraries in Waterdeep for about what you paid to have it translated."

"So we wasted our money?" The crossbowman leered at the older woman, recalling the no refund policy.

"I'm sorry I couldn't provide you with what you wanted." Ciara offered, although she was sure that even had she been able to read the text word for word, they still would not be happy with what she came up with. She started digging into her own coin purse. "If it's about the money…"

"Ciara." The madam finally spoke up and grabbed her daughter wrist to halt the rummaging. "My daughter has earned her wage in both time and energy on this task. I, too, apologize that you were not pleased with the results of her findings; however, perhaps I can make that up to you by providing a discount to any of our featured packages."

Ciara rolled her eyes. Of course her mother would come up with the brilliant idea of these poor suckers paying even more for an incomplete service.

The youngest boy's eyes widened at the prospect. He whispered a hushed plea to his oldest brother. "You did miss my coming of age name day." He bartered.

"And when was that?" Aurora questioned.

"Two days ago." He answered.

"I just bought you that axe and breastplate." The eldest disputed.

"Because we were heading out East, not for my name day." The younger boy argued back.

"Tell you what, because it's for your coming of age, you can have your choice of any girl you want." She started to pull out her album of girls.

Without looking at the book the boy pointed at Ciara. "Her."

"Whoa, wait a minute…" Ciara tried to argue. She didn't do 'packages'.

"Perhaps if we look through…" Aurora opened the album.

"No." The middle boy cut her off. "You did say any girl, and I would be more than willing to pay for the deluxe package with a ten percent discount if he can take out your daughter."

"Mother…" Ciara tried to object.

"Get cleaned up." Aurora ordered her out of the room. She gladly stormed out of the room office. She slammed the door to her chambers causing the girl inside to jump.

"Oh my, Lyza, I didn't see you."

"It's okay, my lady. Your bath is ready for you." The young girl explained her presents.

Ciara nodded her thanks. Elyzabeth was only nine, and like Ciara, the illegitimate daughter of one of the courtesans. "You didn't have to." Ciara responded. She hated the idea of the young girl being treated as anything but the nine-year-old that she was.

"It's not a problem. I like it in here." Lyza explained. Besides the madam's, Ciara had the largest quarters in the structure, complete with an attached bathing room.

"As much as I appreciate your company, the madam is going to be in here shortly if you would rather make your way to the dinning quarters."

Lyza nodded and sprung away as Ciara stripped down to clean up after a day in the desert. As predicted, within minutes, Aurora strode into the room without knocking.

"You weren't at the library today." She stated as fact.

Ciara huffed. "Did you send spies out after me?"

"No, as a kindness Bram went tried to deliver lunch. He spoke to Cecily who claimed she hadn't seen you, which I find odd since you were on strict orders to report directly to the library following dance."

"If you knew that I didn't put the time in, then why not agree to give the money back?" Ciara questioned.

"You know I don't like that tone." Aurora warned. "I didn't give the money back because I don't want this establishment getting the reputation that we do not honor our commitments. You did good research and the city library did not have the resources necessary to complete the translation."

"Thank you." Ciara responded to the fact that she was being praised for essentially being right.

"However, I still expect you to follow my orders, and as such as a promise to these young adventurers I do require you keep the engagement this evening. You have two hours to bathe, dress, and meet young Edgar at the Queen Mother Inn tavern. You will be expected to adhere to proper decorum while performing the obligations outlined in the agreement." Aurora handed Ciara a parchment signed by the Madam and young adventurer outlining what was expected and not tolerated on this engagement.

"Mother…"

"You're nineteen, Ciara, it's about time you took this step." She made it sound like it wasn't being done as a form of punishment.

She finished her bath to find a lanky, garnet colored gown draped over her bed and readied herself for her night out the best she could.


	3. Chapter 2

Ciara stepped out of the carriage and slowly advanced toward the tavern talking herself into playing her part of the classic gentlewoman. The door was held open for her approach by the young adventurer as outlined in his agreement. He appeared out of place in such a high scale establishment, yet greeted her with a compliment like a gentleman.

"Our table is over there." Edgar pointed towards the booth across the room. Ciara followed the waiter over and the privacy curtain was drawn to block off the area. Elven wine was poured into the goblets and the candles on the table were lit for ambiance.

Edgar took a sip from his goblet, his hand shaking as it approached his lips. Ciara gave him a consoling hand squeeze.

"You're new to this, aren't you?"

He shyly nodded his head.

"It's okay, so am I." Ciara admitted. "Not this portion, but…"

"This is your first time, too?" Edgar questioned.

It took a moment for Ciara to realize what he was asking. "With a client, yes."

"But you've lain… I mean, you've probably been taught to satisfy… with the Madam as your mother…" He fumbled over his words.

Ciara chuckled, wondering if that was the reason she had been picked as his companion, and merely nodded. "The lobster here is delicious." She pointed out on the menu. "It's caught fresh daily right off the coast."

The man shrugged. "As long as it's included."

"My mother is the main financier of the inn; everything is included in that package. We might as well take advantage of your brother's generosity." Ciara explained. The waiter returned shortly and orders were placed. After a couple refills of his drink the adventurer appeared much more relaxed and capable to respond to Ciara's wit with his own flirtation over dinner and desert. They were leaving the tavern to go upstairs to their room when Edgar dug into his pocket and realized he had left the key in his knapsack at the inn he was staying in down the street.

"It's all right. I know the manager, we can get inside." Ciara shrugged off his concern.

"Can we just go back and pick it up? I don't want to get charged for a lost key." Edgar explained.

"I suppose a quick stop wouldn't hurt." Ciara allowed him to lead him to his room. When she voiced her concern over running into his brothers Edgar assured her that they would be in the local tavern until late into the evening. True to his word, they made it to the room with no sign of the older boys.

Edgar opened the door and invited the girl over the threshold. "You know, we could just do this here…" He propositioned.

The room was nice enough, pretty basic for a double room. It appeared that Edgar had his bedroll strewn on the floor. His brother's packs and weapons were dispersed in piles on the floor. However, for security reasons, Aurora had strict rules about the act taking place at either the inn or the brothel. She brought up the guidelines of contract. "It's not that far…"

"And I thought we were getting along so well?" He brushed his hand over the length of her arm.

"We are." She placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered. "But trust me, those feather pillows are to die for."

"I don't need expensive pillows to have a good time." He replied and grabbed her from around her waist and thrust her into his chest, bringing her into a sloppy kiss. Ciara struggled against this kiss and pushed herself away.

"Whoa, hold on!" She backed up a few steps. "If you want to grab the key, I'll wait for you down stairs."

"You're not running off on me!" He yelled and grabbed her arm halting her exit. Ciara struggled against the grasp causing the man to become enraged. He let her go in order to find his great axe that he had placed under the bed closest to the window. Due to the rapid release Ciara was thrown into the wall and dropped down to her knees.

She watched the adventurer dig under the bed and tried to estimate her chances of being able to run out the door in her heels, not liking her changes she instead spotted a small dagger sticking out the pack next to her. She grabbed the dagger and charged toward the man to sticking him in the back near the kidney. Edgar yelled out and stood up as swung with a closed fist. She luckily ducked away from his swing and went in for another stab, barely grazing his ribcage.

Edgar grabbed and wrenched her wrist causing her to drop the dagger. Ciara did a back handspring away from the adventurer and picked up a spear as he fumbled to grab a great sword. She braced herself for the charge as he ran into the weapon in a vicious rage. Edgar fell to the ground with the spear sticking from his stomach and blood leaking out the wound. Ciara pushed away the instinct to internally freak out instead she wiped away the blood from the dagger. She grabbed a cloak and the coin pouch from the man's belt before crawling out and jumping from the second story window.

Ciara was alone on the street in a now torn evening gown and 5 silver pieces and 12 copper in a pouch. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Edgar's brothers found his body and the brothel would be the first place they went to exact their revenge. As sure as she was of her mother's security, she had no idea how her mother would respond to what was clearly a breach protocol in following him out of the Queen Mother Inn to begin with. Instead, she took off her heels, wrapped the dark cloak around her, and ran to the safest place she knew.

"I'm not doing this for you, Tams." Justina responded to her sister's plea for help with her homework, coming into the room after helping her mother put her two-year-old son to bed. Her husband and father were out surveying their next project. The town guard had received a bonus in their budget and asked the family to reequip all the locks on the premises.

"Oh comeon, when am I going to use economics anyway?" Tamarie complained as she read over the problem yet again. "This is stupid, I'm stupid!"

"No, you're not! This is easy. A bakers weekly supplies costs 2 gold pieces per week and pays his four employees 1 silver piece per day. How much does the baker need to sell in revenue to obtain a 25% weekly profit?" Justina read the problem. "When are you going to use this? Our family owns a shop!"

"Locks shop, not bakery." Tamarie argued as she grabbed the page out of her sister's hand.

"Same concepts."

"Yeah, well…. Ma and Papa run a shop, which you and Percy are free to take over." Tamarie refuted. Since her early childhood, Tamarie was encouraged to help out around the shop. As much as she liked the time spent with her dad learning about the mechanics of the different types of locks she didn't have the attention span to spend hours on end crafting the merchandise, and the sales floor was never her forte.

"Then what are you going to do?" Justina questioned. She hoped that her sister would follow her example of settling down and starting a family of her own. Justina and Percival were sweeties in school. They married shortly after finishing their studies, and now Justina was 23 weeks pregnant with child number two.

Tamarie shrugged. "I don't know. Papa was an adventurer."

"Yes, and he almost died doing it!"

"I'm not saying I'm going to take the next ship out of here, but maybe someday I could run with a party, you know, serve as a scout. Papa said that one he ran with was invaluable, taught him everything he knows about traps and locks."

"I think Papa tells you way too much about his adventuring days, maybe you should get back to your homework."

Tamarie stuck out her tongue at her sister before turning her attention to the page. She started working on the problem when she heard a knock on her window. She looked over to see her best friend with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Justina, get mom!" She called out as she opened the window for Ciara to crawl through. Ciara was holding a swollen wrist against her chest as she sat down on the edge of Tamarie's bed. "What happened?"

"I, um…" Ciara sniffled as more tears fell. "I don't know what to do?"

"Are you hurt?" Tamarie asked her.

Ciara shook her head no and then contradicted herself with an audible 'maybe'. "Think it's twisted." She rolled her wrist indicating that it wasn't broken.

"Anywhere else?" She watched Ciara massage the small of her back where she collided with the wall.

"Just sore." Ciara responded. Tamarie grabbed one of her night shirts and handed it over to her friend encouraging her to change into something more comfortable as she started to calm down. Moments after she stripped down from her gown and replaced it with the shirt, Justina rushed into the room with the Wolfswift matriarch, Marion.

Marion stepped into the room and immediately held her arms out for Ciara to rush into the embrace. She wrapped her arms around the girl who she considered her third daughter allowing, once again, the tears to flow free on her shoulder. Marion ran her fingers through Ciara's fallen updo, whispering reassurances into her ear. Once the trembling stopped Ciara pushed away to explain her predicament.

"The family is from the East district at the very least they are going to see it that I'm locked away for murder." The women all piled onto Tamarie's bed to listen to the story.

"That wasn't murder, sweetie." Marion replied.

"Professor Gwaron has his law degree. I can talk to him on the morrow and see if I can set up an appointment." Justina volunteered.

"I guess…" Ciara responded, mentally reviewing her options. She felt a headache come on from the base of her skull and started to rub her forehead.

"Are you feeling okay?" Marion asked her.

"She said she was sore." Tamarie answered for her.

Marion placed a hand on Ciara's shoulder and performed a cure spell, relieving the aches and pains.

"Better. Thanks!" Ciara offered a slight smile.

"Is there anything else we can do? Tea?" Marion offered.

Ciara shook her head no. "I just want to sleep, if that's okay?"

"You can have my bed." Tamarie volunteered and grabbed a bedroll from the closet. Ciara was too tired and upset to argue as the other women stepped away, allowing her to settle under the covers.

"Are you sure it's okay that I stay?" She looked to the matriarch.

"Of course." Marion answered. "Always! You have an open invitation from me and Galan. Just get some rest, we'll figure this out in the morning."

Justina left the room to check on her son as Marion stayed to tuck in her girls. She kissed both Tamarie and Ciara on the head before turning off the light with a wave of her hand. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Both girls replied before the door shut.

"We will figure this out." Tamarie assured her as soon as they were alone.

"Yeah, I know." Ciara replied before turning over in an attempt to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in.

As soon as she drifted to a deep enough sleep her unconscious brought her back into Edgar's room and the image of his hollow eyes staring back at her. As she approached the body to examine the hole in his gut to see if it had stopped bleeding, Edgar sat up in one motion, his appearance unchanging from his dead expression as his arm rose and an accusatory finger pointed at Ciara. The accusations became verbal as his brothers materialized behind her. She tried, once again, to run from the room only to notice that as fast as her legs were moving she wasn't going anywhere as a great sword approached her neck.

Ciara shot up with a gasp before the steel touched her skin. She could feel her heart beat racing in her chest and she sucked in deep breaths and she attempted to gain control of her vitals. The thought the replayed over and over in her head was that no matter what happened next, she did not want to involve the Wolfswift family in it. They had already done enough to help her when she would have otherwise been in legal trouble.

Tamarie was sleeping soundly on the bedroll next to her and hoping to keep it that way she snuck into her friend's desk to find parchment and a used quill to write a quick note before retreating through the door in the kitchen in a pair of Justina's boots and the cloak she had taken from the adventurer. Ciara grabbed a pair of slacks, shirt, and bodice from the clothesline hanging out back and quickly changed before adventuring back into the streets, this time, in the dead of the night. She used the night's sky as a source of light and headed south. Feeling alone and weary Ciara grabbed tightly onto the hilt of her stolen dagger, paying close attention to any movement around her.

It was late enough that caverns were closed and not early enough for the bakers to begin preparing their inventory which meant very little traffic through the streets. It wasn't until she saw sign welcoming her to the Carter's stable that she allowed herself to relax enough to release her gripe on the hilt. She snuck in to an empty stall and hid within a hay bale drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness until the sun peaked through the horizon shinning directly into her eyes. Her instinct was correct as the first one to enter barn to feed and groom the horses was the elder son, Daveak. He went straight to Thunder with carrots from the garden.

"Don't tell anyone I'm here." Ciara made her presence known before she appeared from the hay bale.

Dav jumped at her voice and spun around to face her. "What in the gods' name..?!"

"Please, Dav, I'm in trouble." She explained simply. "I need your help."

"Anything." He offered her. "What kind of trouble?"

"The kind of trouble where I am probably better off disappearing before I find myself with a life sentence behind bars." Ciara answered, and saw the hurt expression on his face by her evasiveness. "My mother wasn't thrilled with the fact that I ditched out on my assignment. She ordered me out on a contract with a zealous adventurer and things got out of hand."

"How 'out of hand'?" Dav asked in concern as he approached her. "Did he hurt you? Did he… take advantage…?"

"No." She interrupted. "He tried, but no. I don't even remember how exactly it happened, but he was angry and there was a spear, and he was running towards me, and I… Next thing I know he was bleeding out."

"And then?"

"I ran." Ciara answered. "And somehow I just ended up here. I know… I mean, it doesn't take a genius to know that your mother doesn't approve of me, and that's fine. I just need a few things, and then there's a ship carrying adventurers to Thindar. I can be out of here in a matter of hours."

"Is that really what you want?"

She shrugged. "Yes, I think so. I can't stay. Even if he didn't have two brothers that probably want nothing else but to see me hang, I got a small taste of the life my mother wants for me and I can't do it. I can't!"

Dav nodded. He understood; he really did, only, it had taken years for him to make his move, and now that he had he didn't want to see her go. "What do you need?"

"Whatever I need to travel; a backpack, bedroll, water skin, armor, a short bow… oh, and transportation to the port."

After considering what Ciara currently had in her possession Dav took note of other essentials that she would require on her voyage south. "Okay." He agreed and starting saddling a black stallion. "Ma will be waking up soon. Take Midnight here out to the trail a mile out to lightning rock. It's a stone that's been hit naturally three times by lightning, you can't miss it. Meet me there."

"Um… I haven't really ridden by myself…" She felt embarrassed that her life of privilege meant traveling by horse and cart when she wasn't tumbling through the streets of Calimport on foot.

Dav chuckled. "Don't worry about it, she runs that trail every day with toddlers on her back. She'll lead you, but you have to get going quickly. I promise I will meet you as soon as I possibly can." He kissed her cheek and helped her onto the saddle.

Ciara pressed her heels into Midnights sides and held tightly onto the reigns as the horse galloped through the field and into the wooded path scattered with bushels and palms hiding the rider from the barn. While she rode she thought about what she was getting herself in to, what she needed to become in order to be an adventurer. She was intelligence, resilient, and had decent people skills, and what she lacked in strength she made up for in agility, however, she always seemed to lack a certain level of insight leading her to rash decisions. Such as the decision leading her from a soft warm bed and unto a voyage south to what was to be a life of fighting dragons until one destroyed her. Ciara fought with the ingenuity of that plan, but the potential of the unknown seemed superior to the life she knew she would live if she remained. She didn't even have to join the Purple Dragon Knights if she didn't want to, although she didn't know what else she would do in Chult, she certainly wasn't the brutish fighter/barbarian type that they were looking for. Maybe she could find her own party and venture into the world to do some good, like her father.

She found rock easily enough, and pulled on Midnight's reigns, halting her canter before dismounting from the steed. Ciara perched on the rock waiting for Dav to show up for supplies; hoping he would. There was no reason for him to hold any loyalty to her. They spent one afternoon together and it ended with her telling him that she couldn't give him more. She thumbed through the silver and copper pieces in the pouch realizing that she was going to have to do much better than that to afford passage on the vessel. Luckily picking out an easy mark with heavy pockets that she could help assist in unburdening them from was a specialty that her mother taught her at an early age.

Ciara was taken out of her own head by the sound of galloping approaching. She flipped over the rock and rolled into the bushels in wait hoping that she knew the source. She watched for Thunder to approach before revealing herself.

"You do realize the horse gives your position away." Daveak teased her as he reached his hand out to assist her to a standing position.

"Only sort of." She replied back. A prowler may know that someone was in the area, but not who and not necessarily where.

Dav handed her a backpack filled with clothes and other traveling needs before handing her a beautifully crafted short bow and quiver full of arrows. Ciara was admiring the craftsmanship of the bow when he pulled out his final purchase. "It screamed your name when I saw it." He boasted holding up skillfully crafted cured black leather armored bodice with reinforced steel studs made especially to mold to her figure. It conveniently laced up the front, and provided a deep enough neckline to allow her cleavage to do most of the talking. Along with the bodice she received matching boots that laced to her knees, belt, and a pair of knife holsters that strapped to each thigh.

"It…. It's… perfect." She replied wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I have no idea how to make this up to you."

"Take care of yourself, that's all I ask." Dav responded back.

"Are you sure that's all?" Ciara questioned looking off the trail into the fields. "Because, we have some time…"

"Tempting." He blushed. "Very, very tempting, but I can't. Not like this."

"Aren't you the romantic?" She instead kissed his cheek. "Do you mind standing guard then while I change?"

Ciara once again hid behind the bushes and disrobed from her friends' garments into her own black leggings and purple blouse before adding the armor and boots. She secured her dagger in one of the holsters, and the pouch to her belt, before returning to the trail. "What do you think?"

"I think…" he replied, not able to verbalize what he was truly feeling, "you look like an adventurer."

"Thank you." She repeated for what felt like the umpteenth time. She handed him the warn clothes making him promise they return to their rightful owners.

Dav felt his throat close up at the prospect of having to say goodbye. "Follow this trail to its end; it'll lead you to the docks. Dismount and smack her on the rear and she'll find her way back."

Ciara nodded.

"And write once you've arrived. Let me know you're safe."

"I will." She promised.

"Right, well, I better head back to the stable before my ma figures out my excursion for feed is taking considerably longer than it should."

"Of course." She watched him mount his horse before stopping him. "Dav… um… don't wait for me. I mean… find someone that can give you what I can't."

Dav rode off without a response. Part of her hated herself for letting him go like that after using him to help her, but she honestly wanted him to be happy. The ride to the docks went by much quicker than she expected, giving her ample time to scour the market place for pretentious aristocrats with a pocket full of gold that they wouldn't miss. She spotted her first mark at the jewelers. An overbearing Dwarf was haggling the cost of a gaudy opal ring when Ciara casually browsed by the counter and snatched a pocket full of coins. After strolling out of the stop she quickly counted the gold before depositing them into her pouch. There was a garish hunter type on horseback that she was able to grab an entire pouch off of.

After figuring that she had plenty to get herself onboard she noticed a snooty noble woman perturbed by a troubadour's inability to break a platinum piece for a shepherd's pie. A tall, spiked sandy haired, broad-shouldered, young man who appeared to be destined for the same ship out as Ciara bailed out the troubadour by paying for the pastry himself. As the entitled noble woman stomped away Ciara liberated the woman of a few of those platinum pieces. She was about to head toward the ship when a dagger at the armory caught her attention.

"It's a beaut." The elderly gnome weapon smith declared walking over to her. "Silver blade with carved obsidian handle, masterwork quality. I carved it myself."

"It is, regrettably, I don't have the funds for masterwork quality." Ciara confessed, at least not if she wanted to get aboard. "I was hoping to find something similar to one I already own."

He examined the blade. "This is pretty basic. I have something with a better balance; improved throwing capability."

"How much?" She smiled.

"For you? One gold and five silvers."

She knew enough to know that was three/fourths the cost of the standard blade. She dug into her pouch to pull out the coins. Ciara was strapping the sheathed dagger to her thigh when the shop was approached by another adventurer.

"Busy day?" Ciara asked, excusing him to deal with the next customer.

"You have no idea. With the Dragon's Maw leaving port every wide-eyed child is gearing themselves up for battle. No offense."

"None taken." Ciara responded. He sent her off with a 'best wishes' before seeing to his next consumer. The growl of her stomach alerted her to the fact that she had missed breakfast and decided on stopping for a pastry before heading to the ship.

By the time she had arrived the line was backed up down the block. She was about to head in that direction when she spotted two members of the town guard scouring the crowd. Fearing that it could be her that they were seeking, she dumped the equivalent to 50gp into her palm and sauntered to the head of the line. She caught the eye of the First Mate, and held that attention as he dealt with belligerent dwarf that was negotiating his fare. She was sure she had bumped into an elbow or two on her way forward, but nobody seemed to say anything as she approached the Mate out of turn.

Ciara moved in close and whispered, "get me a single and I'll make it worth your while" into his ear before dropping the coins into his hand. The man barely looked at the currency, instead entranced by the cleavage inches away from his own chest.

"Cabin 3." The Mate announced; his gaze still locked on her as she stepped aboard.

Ciara headed directly to her cabin. She barely slept the night before and it appeared that the adrenaline of recent events was finally leaving her system. The bed certainly didn't meet the standards of the brothel but her bedroll provided adequate cushioning for her current needs. She took the time to herself to riffle through her backpack. Along with the clothing and water skin, Dav had acquired days' worth of rations, a expediently wrapped lock pick set and lock, a book of dungeons and caverns, a rope, and a couple torches with flint and steel.

The cabin was small, but as promised, as the other cabins filled up it appeared that her bottom bunk remained open. There was a small chest for personal belongings embedded in the wall that she used her own lock to seal in her personal belongings. She noticed the sandy haired male that she encountered earlier that morning enter the cabin across the hall from her. She hadn't been certain he had noticed her before, but the auditory "what luck!" that came out of his mouth as he peered into her cabin cued her in on the fact he was aware of her presence now. Ciara layed on her stomach with her head facing the open door as she looked through the book that Dav had acquired for her. She watched as the man stole glances of her cleavage, smirking as he appeared proud of his stealth. She felt the sting of her eyes as she tried to read, deciding to call it enough and change out of her armor before catching a couple hours of sleep.

Ciara began to unlace the armor when she realized that the young man's jaw was sagged open from his bunk. "Oops, sorry about that, hun." She smirked and winked before closing the door.

She rested her head against her bedroll and let out a sigh of relief as she felt the ship drift away from port. She thought about the life she took and realized that in a situation of her life against theirs she didn't feel as bad as she thought she might. Now that she was out of danger from the local authority she was easily lulled to sleep by the steady rock of the sea bound ship.


	4. Chapter 3

Ciara awoke to the sound of knocking on her cabin door. Unsure of how long she had slept she leapt from her bunk and answered the door to find the first mate handsomely dressed outside of her door. His hair was slicked back in such a way that it was obvious that he had groomed himself before approaching her quarters.

"I um…" He stuttered as he bashfully looked down at his feet. "You had said…"

Ciara combed her fingers through what had to be horrifying bed head and decided to play with the presumptuous sailor. "And you just assumed that meant that you knock on my door whenever you felt lonely?"

"No… no, I didn't mean…" He back pedaled.

"What did you mean?"

"It's dinnertime. I thought maybe we could sit down and get to know each other better. If you want…" His offer sounded genuine and he certainly was decent enough looking for Ciara to make the open ended offer that she had. He was no Daveak or even the sandy haired beefcake from across the hall, but there were certainly worse ways to spend her time.

"Dinner sounds lovely, truly it does, master…." She held for his name.

"Fenwich." He replied and held out his hand for a shake. "Etienne Fenwich, but please, call me Etienne."

She returned the greeting. "Etienne, I realize by offer was vague and provided we can reach an agreement I am willing to uphold it; however, can we clarify what it is that I debted myself?"

"One date that concludes with a kiss, anything beyond that is of your own volition." He offered, knowing that she had already paid steeply for her accommodations and didn't want to press for fear of walking away with nothing. She believed her to be the fairest lady he had ever seen, truly the fairest on this ship. He figured a decent time this evening may lead to further rendezvous this journey, and it was set to be a long journey.

"That's fair." She replied. "I do require some time to dress. Is there a venue where you would like to meet?"

"There's a tavern on the upper deck, we can meet there."

"Consider it a date." Ciara responded back with a pleasant smile, after all, that was precisely where her talents lied. After closing the door behind the mate she wondered if she could ever truly break free of her past. Her mother crafted her to be a prodigy in just one thing. It was the Wolfswifts that taught her she could be more. As she went to open the lock on her chest she realized that she recognized the craftsmanship of the key, and followed her intuition by fishing out the lock pick set that she stowed under her bedroll, unrolling the leather wrap. A small piece of parchment slipped out.

My dearest Ciara,

I have not the time to write all I would like to say, starting with the verbal thrashing that is owed for sneaking out in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. That said, it didn't take your letter for me to understand what you did and why. You are so much more than what your mother means you to be, and I know this adventure will lead you to greatness. I can only hope that once you find your place there will be space left for me to join you. Take care, and know that no matter the distance between us you will never be alone.

Your chosen sister, Tamarie

Ciara smiled as a single tear rolled down her cheek. They were twelve and thirteen the first time that term was used. Tamarie had gotten into an argument with Justina and ran off following. After the Wolfswifts spent the afternoon looking for her, it was Ciara that found her hidden in the foliage of her 'thinking tree'. It took a while to coax Tamarie down from her spot as she lamented about the misfortune of having a snitch for a sister, and how she wished that the gods had given her Ciara instead. Ciara explained that the gods did had given her to her in the form of a 'chosen sister'; a bond ever more precious than blood.

After reading the letter a half a dozen more times she slipped it back into the wrapping and returned the set to his place under the bedroll. She continued with the task of readying herself for dinner. Among her clothing was a lightweight strapless violet sundress that hung at the knee with a deeper purpled corset to accentuate her assets. She added her belt and sandals before deciding on slipping on one of her thigh holsters under the skirt in the case of incident.

As the sun began to set the winds picked up, Ciara swayed down the halls with both arms out to bounce off the walls until she made it to the stairway to the lower deck. It appeared that most of the guests had answered the call to dinner, as many gorged on the food and ale provided by the kitchen. Unfortunately there was already an array of folk that had either already succumbed to too much drink or already turned green from the pounding of the sea that were interrupting the serenity of the dreamers and artisans seated by the ledge admiring the beauty of the sky. Ciara climbed the next set of steps to the open tavern. The table closest to the bar sat a varied group of men playing a boisterous game of cards. One of which was the sandy haired stranger wearing a very satisfied grin as he examined his hand.

'Amateurs', Ciara thought after reading each of their tells.

"Interested, my lady?" A half-orc brute proposed as he put his cards down and shuffled toward her. The attention of the table turned toward her as jaws dropped and eyes widened. She wondered how many of the six males seated had carnal knowledge of a lady.

She put a gentle hand out to halt his progression. "In the game, mayhap, unfortunately I do have a previous commitment to attend to."

"'tis not a game to be entered into lightly, the stakes are set high in this one." A roguish rat-like humanoid interjected as he lifted his silver winnings from the last hand. Out of all the players, he was definitely the one to look out for.

"A note worth consideration, although, with a month of travel ahead it would be considered a kindness if you gentlemen could assist in the passing of time by teaching me to play?"

"As long as you don't go cryin' when you lose your bread." A tiefling remarked. As he did a barmaid handed her a glass of wine and pointed to the first mate seated at a table looking over the horizon.

"I believe I can make do." Ciara smiled and left their company. It didn't take long until the game convened and the barmaid was the one being ogled.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything important." Etienne stated, holding out her chair as she sat down.

"Not at all." She replied. "I appreciate the rescue."

"Are you going to sit here and pretend that you need to be rescued?" He questioned her. "Don't misunderstand there are many warriors aboard that would like nothing more than to be your shinning knight."

"But you are not among them?"

"I am little more than a sailor that delights in honest conversation with a beautiful lady."

"In my experience honest can be equated with quite dull." She replied. Ciara spent years learning what to say to please a man, and rarely did honesty play a roll.

"Then you have not yet lived." Etienne replied. "Aboard this ship I have heard many of stories of trials and tribulations, and experienced a few my-self. The captain is good, but when the gods are uncooperative there is little that can be done but weather the storm."

She wondered just how many of those stories actually veered from reality to make the victor sound more impressive and gallant that they truly were. "I'll admit my experiences are quite limited. I was born and raised in the southern district of Calimport as a courtesan's daughter. I have met many of people with stories to tell, yet all told with a specific intent in mind."

"It is correct that each story holds little but a grain of realism, yet it still holds true to the teller which makes it honest." The first mate explained.

"So tell me then, what was your favorite adventure aboard the Dragon's Maw?"

Over dinner Etienne told Ciara a story that occurred soon after his hire. He was assisting the crew with lifting the fishing nets and two giant crabs crawled aboard. The fisherman had nothing but grappling hooks to fight with. One of the men ended up grappled by a crab and almost killed as the crew worked to hack away at its shell. After spending the night in the infirmary himself with wounds sustained, Etienne was given the most succulent meal he had ever eaten. The crab meat lasted the crew a week and none were tiring of it when it went. Etienne told other stories of sighting in the water, fortunately the ship was large enough that a large jellyfish was unable to do much to the crew aboard. Pirates were an issue all on their own, but the captain was familiar enough with some of the more dangerous captains that they paid him no mind when he traveled their waters.

"How does he accomplish that?" Ciara asked.

"Taxes." Etienne answered. "The Halfling pays and the pirates leave his passengers alone. I think the arrangement works for them as well, since they don't know first glance how many seasoned fighters are transported on the vessel. Your contribution, my lady, will go a long way in securing safe travels."

"That's good to hear." She smiled as she finished off desert. The sun had completely set. There were enough stars in the sky to have a clear view of the sea; however, many of the passengers on the deck used magical means of providing their own light.

"I hope you enjoyed your dinner." He offered. "I'm afraid I need to depart to my duties."

"I did." She replied and stood up to offer her embrace. She could not argue that the man was charming and considerate, but even after a pleasing kiss, there was a lack of passion that she hoped he had felt as well. He departed and Ciara felt much to awake to go back to her quarters. She spied the game that appeared to have dissipated as the ratfolk collected more earnings and more and more of the men fell to drunkenness. Instead she went down to the lower deck see if she could find anything or anyone of interest.

The first thing that caught her attention was a young girl, with a look of maybe sixteen, seated by her-self. She was tall, thin, and fair, with pale skin and long fine strawberry blonde hair that flowed over her shoulder. She was modestly dressed in a long skirt and short sleeved bodice, even with a shall wrapped around her shoulders she shivered slightly.

"Are you well?" Ciara approached her.

The girl nodded her head, yet her skin tinged green as she did. As the girl lifted her hand to her mouth Ciara scooped up under her other shoulder and shuffled her to the ledge leaving just enough time for the girl to heave up the dinner that she had just consumed. The girl continued heaving and Ciara grabbed the hair that was falling before her face and held it as she rubbed her back.

"Oh God." The girl muttered between heaves.

"It's going to be okay, you're okay." Ciara assured the poor girl as she gulped down as much air as she could between rounds. Unfortunately she had little training in healing. There was a midwife and healer that attended to the girls in the brothel, but Ciara did have plenty of experience holding hair over the latrine when girls got sick with drink or sick with child.

"Ginger tea." She heard an unfamiliar voice say from beside her.

"Excuse me?" Ciara looked for the source, finding a very modestly dressed elven girl garbed in leather seated on the bench with a black wolf lying with its head in her lap.

"The girl requires ginger tea to settle the stomach." The elf replied as if it were common knowledge.

"Do you have any?" Ciara inquired. The knowledge would do little help without actual means of obtaining the product.

"I have ginger to brew, but no hot water."

The young girl started dry heaving, and Ciara was finding that she had little patience for the elf. Without consideration for what might happen if the seemingly sleeping wolf was disturbed Ciara instructed for the elves assistance. "The kitchen has hot water, please get some."

The elf stood up and commanded the wolf, "dartho". It laid its head back down on the bench as its master headed to the kitchen.

"Please tell me that doesn't mean 'kill'." The girl responded pitifully between coughs.

"No, it's elven. 'Stay', it means." Ciara assured her.

She nodded and knelt down on the bench. Her head pressed against the cool boat. Ciara brushed her fingers through her sweat dampened hair.

"Do you wish to lie down?" Ciara asked her.

The girl shook her head no. She figured it was only a matter of time before she would be spewing again, which as it turned out the movement of her head brought on another wave. She scrambled back over the side and Ciara once again took hold on the long hairs. It wasn't long before the elf returned with a mug of ginger tea in hand.

"Thank you, my lady." Ciara offered and took the cup to feed the young girl as the heaving subsided.

"Ariana." The elf stated. "I am not your lady, or a lady. I am named Ariana."

There were certain courtesies that Ciara was taught that were passed from the days of Kings and Queens. Landowners were lords and ladies, knights were sers, scholars or tradesmen were masters of craft. Not all were used in the correct context, but used instead to display respect.

"Very well. Thank you, Ariana. You can call me Ciara."

"I'm…" the girl hiccuped and dropped knelt back down on the bench, "Adelaide. Mum called me Dela, for short."

"Okay Dela, you want to try some?" Ciara helped bring the mug to her lips. The earlier shiver had become a full blown shake as she brought up her hands to maneuver the cup herself. She spluttered after the first sip, but after keeping it down she was able to take a few more. Her breathing evened out and she eventually felt comfortable enough to fully sit on the bench with her back against the deck.

"I am so sorry about this." Dela stated uncomfortably. "'Tis my first time on sea. I didn't know… thought I was hungry, dinner didn't sit well."

"It's fine." Ciara soothed. "It happens to the best of us."

"This helps. Thank you." Dela looked to Ariana.

"I got sick a few times on my journey out. So I keep ginger with me, you should too." The elf responded.

"Your journey out?" Dela asked. "Where are you from?"

"I am from a village in the Samarach jungle. I never should have left, I know that now." Ariana replied.

"There had to be a reason that you did?" Ciara questioned, her motivation was her own, but each person aboard had their own story of why they wanted or needed to get away from where they were from.

"I am of age to marry. I established my natures bond, and it was time. Instead I panicked and left the community. I thought I could do good, and serve Chauntea, but all I found in my travels east were vile hunters prone to kill everything they do not understand. It saddens me to say I shall do better within my own community."

"You are a druid, are you not? I've heard of them. No written language to speak of…" Ciara stated.

"I cannot speak…" Ariana started. "It is against law to teach others the language of my people."

"I understand." Ciara replied. As much as she would love to learn for her own curiosity what she did know about the druids were that they were secretive by nature, but the wolf suddenly made sense. It wasn't her pet, it was her companion. "What is its name?"

"Her name is Eboni. She is young yet, a direwolf created to roam the wilderness not be confined to the sea by ship."

"She's beautiful." Ciara remarked. Eboni's head lifted as her name was spoken by the elf. The fur was jet black, eyes of sapphire blue. "Can I touch her?"

She was instructed to hold out her hand for the wolf to smell. Ciara waited for Ariana's approval before touching the head and then scratching behind her ears.

"I think she likes you." Dela interjected. The tea seemed to be working as the nausea lessened.

The wolf nuzzled into Ciara's hand as she scratched. "I think she likes attention." Ciara countered.

"She was a mere pup when she came to me. A deinonychus had killed her mother, and I had to conclude the weaning process with my neighbor's riding dog. She is quite comfortable in the proximity of people, unless provoked."

"A what?" Dela asked. Ciara wondered the same, but didn't want to ask.

"A dinosaur; they are populous in the jungles of Chult." Ariana explained.

"Remind me to avoid there." Dela responded.

"Thindol comes with its own dangers should you traverse beyond the capital city." Ariana warned of the area where they were meant to debark.

"As am I sure there are many of dangers within, but what would an adventure be if not a bit of peril?" Ciara replied. "Although, no offense, you appear quite young for this type of journey."

"I will be of age before we debark." Dela objected. "Besides, I hoped that I could be of help?"

"What did your mum say when you told her of this?" Ciara inquired.

"Nothing." The girl responded forlornly. "She passed trying to break up a tavern brawl. I begged her not to, but she insisted that we were given the gift of music to inspire good in the world. She tried to… but…"

"I'm sorry." Ciara offered condolences. "What do you play?"

"I sing and play the fiddle." Dela boasted. "My mum and I played on the streets in Trades Ward to earn our wage. I pick-pocketed when necessary, but as a duo we did well for ourselves. I rarely needed to resort to such methods."

Ciara smirked; she wasn't one to pass judgment on the occasional pick-pocketing venture, especially when it meant putting food on the table. "I would love to hear you play some time, but it's getting late, we ought to get some rest."

The suggestion was more for Dela's benefit. There was some color returning to her face, but she was still shivering slightly. "I don't… I can't… the fellow sharing my quarters has red eyes and horns, and the way he looks at me…. it… scares me."

Ariana pulled her scimitar from its scabbard hanging from her belt. "Take this." She offered.

The girl looked at the curved blade with wide eyes. She obviously had no idea what to do with it.

"You can keep that." Ciara insisted. "Dela, you can stay with me so long as you promise not to rob me blind in my sleep."

"I wouldn't." She assured. "But how? Wouldn't your own roommate…?"

"No qualms with that, I did not have one." Ciara explained. "You are not the only one with certain talents."

"Did you charm the first mate?" Dela asked, knowing of a spell that could accomplish that task.

"In my own way." Ciara replied. They bid the druid farewell before picking up Dela's belonging from her fortunately empty cabin and Ciara led her to hers.

"Are you certain you are okay with this?" Dela asked as she set up the bottom bunk. "I mean, if you went to the trouble to arrange your own room…"

"I only did that so I could sleep without having to keep one eye open." Ciara clarified. She didn't mind sharing a room, at the house she often had visitors using her chambers for one reason or another. More than often it was Lysa, whose mother was too busy working to pay attention to the girl. "As I said, as long as you promise not to slit my throat and rob me blind, your presence is more than welcome."

The girl motioned a cross over her heart and most assuredly replied. "I promise, I wouldn't even think of it."

"I know. I was jesting." Ciara replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I believe, the stomach still sits uneasy when then ship rocks hard, but the contents appear to be settled for the moment." She explained as she set a pot out next to her just in case.

Ciara pulled out a smoke stick to light the candle above her head hoping that the act of reading would help put her to sleep.

"I can get that." Dela stated peering up from the ground level. She climbed up on the bunk and touched the candle while muttering an incantation causing it to light up the room.

"That won't bother you?" Ciara questioned the intensity of the light.

"No; my mum used to say I could sleep straight through a mastodon stampede."

"Then it is a good thing you do not run into many of those in East Calimport."

"I'd say." Dela replied as she stepped down and shut the door to put on her night shirt. Ciara followed suit before pulling out her book.

"How long does this light last?" Ciara asked.

"About ten minutes." Dela yawned, cuddling into her bedroll with her arms wrapped around a withered stuffed animal bunny rabbit that her mum had sewn her when she was a small child.

Ciara got to the part of the book where the different types of metals were identified when the light went out. She took it as her cue to put down the book and try to get her body back to its regular sleep schedule. She drifted into blessed unconsciousness and found herself on a sunny beach with a jungle in the distance behind her.

Ciara set off towards the jungle as she heard a strange whisper guiding her in that direction. She ran as quickly as she could as the whispers got louder and louder. She was at the entrance of the jungle when she was able to make out two different voices. She knew the language, but couldn't make out the words until she was stopped by the message "beware the coming storm" written in Sylvan across the sky just moments before a storm cloud appeared and created a torrential downpour. Ciara glanced back at the beach and recognized the Dragon's Maw out in the sea getting struck by a lightning bolt, a small voice whispered 'you need to stop it' before she was pulled out of her slumber.

She didn't have time to consider the dream as she realized that it was the sound of convulsive swallowing below her that woke her from her rest. It had to have been the middle of the night as the waves beat more wildly against the ship. "Dela?" She groaned and looked over her bed rail.

A ray of light peered in through the peephole in the door. Dela was seated on the edge of her bed with one hand on the post stabilizing her and the other wrapped around the pot on her lap. Ciara jumped down to help the girl, who was trying to hold off her sickness the best she could. Although, the sounds coming from the hall of others retching wasn't helping. "'T must be storming." Dela stated as Ciara sat beside her. As she did there was a crash of thunder that sounded like it was right outside their wall.

"This ship has been through worse." Ciara attempted to reassure the girl, recalling Etienne stories of what he called hurricane-like weather.

Dela nodded as she continued to take in deep breaths. "'ts good. Sounds like 'm not th' only one." She sputtered.

"I didn't think you had anything left in your stomach?"

"… don't." The girl replied and spit bile into the pot.

"Ariana should have some more ginger…" Ciara figured it couldn't be too hard to find the room with the dire wolf in it. She stood up and a hand stopped her.

"Don't… go." The girl pled.

Ciara responded by sitting back down and rubbing the girls back. Dela was right, there wasn't much left to spit up, and eventually she settled down and fell asleep with her head on Ciara's lap while Ciara lunged against the wall. She had all but forgotten her previous dream except that it left her with a foreboding feeling that made it hard to fall back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

It was the stiffness of her neck and back that woke her up in the morning. Dela was still curled up on her lap rhythmically breathing in deep slumber. She plied the girl off of her and decided to go topside to get relief from the stench, it was going to be a long month if that continued.

"Did you sleep well?" She heard from behind her as she stood against the rail looking out over the horizon. The sun had just topped the mountains far out to the East, its reflection lit the sea.

"Not especially." She turned around to see Etienne behind her. "I don't suppose we have anyone on board that can clear up the weather?"

"None that I am aware of." Etienne replied. "Did you fall sick?"

"No; I felt fine. I mean, I couple shifts that left me a bit woozy. It was my roommate that…"

"Your roommate?" He questioned. "You paid good money to ensure that you had your own bunk."

"I did, and then I changed my mind. I'm female, I can do that." Ciara smiled, before explaining the predicament of the girl.

"I'm so…. I wasn't even paying attention. There were so many passengers that we ran out of room, had to start renting out cargo space…"

"There's no need to explain. I wanted my own bunk because I knew no one and wasn't sure who to trust, not because I required my own space. If there's someone in the cargo space that would not mind bunking with the Tiefling I'm sure it could be arranged. He just terrified her."

"She will to be up against more terrifying creatures than that if she plans on living the life of an adventurer." He warned.

"Yes, but I've been told that there is usually a watch rotation so that these terrifying creatures do not come up and stab you in your sleep." Ciara rebutted. "That said… This trip could get a bit taxing on those unaware of their own sea green affliction…"

"There is a planned stop for supplies on the island of Lantan. It is about a week out, but any who feel they cannot continue are free to depart there." Etienne explained. "I'm surprised you weren't previously aware of that, it was in the itinerary."

"This was a fairly last minute venture." Ciara admitted.

Etienne nodded. She didn't fit into the typical mold of those likely to go adventuring. "You could get off there, too, you know?"

"Whoa! Trying to get rid of me already?"

"No, of course not, but if your primary objective was just to get away, then Lantan would be ideal. The beauty of their beaches rival your own."

"That's sweet, but the primary objective was to find my own way. Perhaps that will be in Lantan, perhaps not."

The lower deck was starting to accrue more traffic and the first mate decided he had stalled enough on his morning duties. "I should…" he pointed away, "I will see about that open bed matter."

"Thanks." Ciara responded hoping that the Tiefling wouldn't suddenly take offence to know longer having his own bunk.

"I will see you around?" He questioned.

"Of course."

As he departed, Ciara went to the kitchen to grab tea and porridge, and then sat outside enjoying the fresh air in her face pondering the idea of getting off on the island. She could try settling down for a bit, maybe apprentice at a locks shop. Her experience with the Wolfswifts would make her invaluable, and she could look after Dela. There was that nagging feeling inside of her, though, that she wanted to do more, be something more.

"I'm… hi." A voice disrupted her thoughts. The sandy haired gentlemen stood before her with a tankard in his hand.

"Good marrow, hi..?" She questioned if that was a name or a stutter.

He took another gulp of what she could only imagine was liquid courage before responding. "Good marrow, no… I'm not… My name… Silphid, is me, not…"

Ciara attempted to stifle a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you Silphid, I noticed we're neighbors. Ciara, is me." She pointed at her chest hoping that it wouldn't come off to mockingly.

"You mentioned last night wishing to learn the game. We could teach you, if you have the time." Silphid pointed back to a dwarf and a half-orc she recognized from the previous evening that were urging the young man on.

"All I have is time." Ciara pointed out to the expansive ocean. "Would you gentleman care to join me?"

They all nodded and shuffled in around the table. All three males appeared to be the butch warrior/fighter types. The middle aged dwarf introduced himself as Rogar who had previously retired from adventuring to settle near the Calim desert with wife and child. Unfortunately in the moon past a blue dragon devastated the small community. Rogar and a hand full of others were left for dead. The loss of his wife and son brought him back into the fold, eager to seek vengeance against any dragon that crossed him. The young half-orc, Tsadok, which Silphid nicknamed 'Dok', was trained on the great-axe by his parents and practically pushed aboard as he was now considered an adult at the age of fifteen.

"We are going to play the others again tonight." Silphid explained. "They thought taking from a girl would be unchivalrous."

"I'm sure they were worried about their chivalry." Ciara remarked sarcastically and then questioned the gentlemen. "What about you, you don't agree?"

"I think if a lady wants to play, she can play." Dok answered for them.

Rogar started shuffling the deck. It was apparent that he and the young man bonded over a mutual distaste for dragons and agreed to provide his tutelage so Silphid had an excuse to talk to her. He explained the rules and dealt out five cards. Ciara lifted hers to find a pair of jacks, a pair of fours and a six of clubs. Rogar explained the hand ranks and gave pointers on what to hang on to and what to look for when making the decision to continue. Ciara arranged her card as she peaked over the top to study the reactions. Because it was a "practice" round, and no bets were being placed, each appeared more relaxed than when she witnessed their hand the night before, still, Silphid sighed and moved one card over to his far left, the dwarf brought a hand up his chin and ran it down the length of his long beard before moving a couple cards around, and Dok bared a husk with a slight half smile before claiming he was ready. Silphid and Rogar both traded out the maximum three cards, Dok traded two, and Ciara put down her six hoping for the full house. She picked up a four and gave a quick smirk, figuring that if she gave them a tell now they would trust that in the future. Rogar explained how the betting process would go and then everyone put down their hand. Rogar had a pair of tens, Silphid an ace, and Dok put down his three kings before Ciara revealed her hand.

"Must be beginner's luck." Silphid claimed.

Ciara shrugged, this time it truly was luck of the cards. They played a few more hands, eventually Rogar gave up the deck and allowed others to shuffle. Although, it was obvious that he was paying special attention to the way Ciara shuffled and dealt.

"Have you played card before?" Silphid asked noticing the ease in which she was able to shuffle and bridge the cards.

"With my Nana. She was a rummy fiend." Ciara explained while dealing out the cards. She remembered little else about her mother's mom who passed when Ciara was only nine. Like Ciara, Aurora was an only child to a baker and his wife. Nana attempted to take over the business when her husband fell ill, but her kind nature nearly ran the business into the ground. At only fourteen Aurora took a job at the local brothel to support her family. Shortly after her father died, and Aurora blamed her mother on their poor conditions, because of that Ciara barely knew her. What she did remember is the smell of warmed baked goods in the oven and sitting by the fire playing cards.

"What's rummy?" Dok questioned.

"It's one of those granny games that are played with the rugrats over cow's milk and cookies." Rogar stated with a hint of contempt as he emptied the tankard in his hand. "I'm empty, anyone want another round, I'm buying."

Ciara and Silphid both accepted the offer. Dok stood up to go with him.

"When did you learn to play?" Ciara asked Silphid as they were left alone.

"Along the trade way we played a lot in the evenings." Silphid explained. "There was a group of us all going out for various reasons. I was coming from Cormyr trying to get to Baldur's Gate for a previous call, but it had just left when I finally got there. They told me of this one and I booked it. Ran my horse so fast those last days I nearly killed it, but I made it, just in time too."

"That's good! The 'you made it' part, the 'nearly killed it' part, not so much. Why is it so important to you to get out there?" Ciara asked. She heard him mention earlier in conversation that he was going to kill dragons, but everyone aboard was saying as much. That reason didn't explain the journey it must have taken from Cormyr all the way out to Calimport.

"I'm a man now, I won't let my mom keep telling me what to do!" Silphid replied indignantly. "She likes using the magic stuff, and kept saying that we could find the thing, and kill the thing if I just learned how to do some spells, and I kept telling her that all the dragon slayers that I heard of never used no magic. It took some armor and a good blade. She wouldn't take no for an answer, so I finally left."

"I'm sorry for laughing, really, but that last sentence there describes my story perfectly." Ciara chuckled at his story. "So, there's a specific dragon you're after?"

Silphid nodded. "T's the dragon that killed my real parents when I was a wee thing, burnt up the whole village. Lutia, mom, lost her family in the attack, too, and took me in. I'm gonna find it, and kill it, and kill every other dragon that comes in my way."

Ciara felt bad for laughing earlier, but there was something endearing about the man. He was about six feet tall, with wide shoulders, and muscles bulging under his clothes. She certainly wouldn't want to face him in a fight, but she could also see that two and half year old boy that lost his parents when he was too young to understand why in him as he talked. He was at least five years older than her, but still, there was a naiveté about him. "Heavens help the dragon that attempts that." She replied.

"You're darn straight!" He stated as the other two arrived.

"What do you say, sweetheart? You think you're ready to put some coin on the line?" Rogar asked her.

"Oh, I see, you wanted to get some ale in me before raising the stakes?" She smirked and pulled out a copper piece. "I suppose I could sit for another hand or two."

Rogar dealt the first hand. Ciara had the five, ten, and jack of hearts, along with the two of diamonds and seven of clubs. After the first round of betting, it was raised to five coppers, she called and put the 5, 2, and 7 into the discard pile asking for three before sliding the five under her palm. With six cards technically in her position, she was able to pull off a flush of hearts. After two rounds of bets Dok and Silphid folded and Ciara beat Rogar's straight. She discarded the extra card into the deck without anyone noticing.

"I guess next round it on me." She stated as she collected her earnings. They played a few more hands in which each of them took a turn in collecting the pot. Ciara watched for the signs that their hand was too good to beat and pulled out before the raising further. The last hand she played was ended one on one against Dok, in which he was sure that the full house in his hand would beat her. So sure that he pulled a gold piece out. Ciara called and laid down her four aces.

"That's not fair! She cheated!" The usually pleasant half-orc shouted. "She, she…"

Ciara laid all her cards down and stood up with her arms outstretched to prove she wasn't hiding anything.

"You don't think I've been watching that half-kind all morning?" Rogar asked him. There was no secret in dwarf's contempt for elves, and half-elves were only slightly better. "Now I don't know what Silphid here is going all gaga over, not enough hair if you ask me, and she might be a little too quick of a study, but she sure ain't no cheater. Now you can either calm yourself down right here or take yourself on a little stroll. Which have you?"

Dok took another swig of ale before settling himself down. Ciara watched the dynamics as Rogar played the fatherly figure to the boys.

"Now, what do you say?" Rogar pressed.

"I apologize, my lady. I just got mad you got a better hand." Dok offered. "With your luck maybe tonight you can help us take down Djir. I swear that rat is hoarding all the good cards."

"I thought the others didn't want to play with me?" Ciara questioned.

"Like you said, chivalry ain't on their mind. I think more they didn't feel like teaching you." Rogar replied. "Show tonight with that bare chest of yours sticking out and I'm sure they'll offer a chair."

"I may just do that. I appreciate your kindness, truly, all of you."

"It was no trouble." Silphid spoke up as his stomach growled. "I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I could certainly go for more food."

Ciara was starting to feel hungry, but she couldn't help wondering where Della was. She had been five hours since she had woken, and had yet seen the girl on the deck. "I need to check on someone, but I will certainly see you around. Here's for the next round." She stated, putting down the coinage.

The ride had smoothed out through the day with the sun shining. She went to the top deck and found groups of passengers scattered about. After scanning though the crowd, wondering how this many beings fit on the boat, and not finding the girl she went back down to her cabin to put dispense a majority of her winnings into the pouch contained in her safe. The cleaning crew had been through and the smell of the lower levels was much more bearable. Dela's bed was neatly made with the stuffed rabbit tucked away in the corner suggesting that she had to be somewhere on the lower deck.

In the structure under the upper deck was a quaint little shopping center with stores full of supplies. Many of the ladies aboard were digging through the clothing racks, men were looking at the weapons and armor. She found Dela engaged in conversation with two girls of approximately Ciara's age in the book store. Dela easily spotted Ciara coming in.

"Oh, there you are!" Dela shouted excitedly and waved her over. "Ciara, this is Ysabel and Morganna. Morganna was telling me that she was born on a lunar eclipse, and it made her blood… different, as in if she touches you, you become lucky."

"Really?" Ciara replied intrigued. She had read about those that received magical properties through a certain bloodline. Morganna appeared unremarkable, a lady of age and average height, with brunette hair tied back into a bun and corrective lenses. Although physically fit she dressed herself modestly, as opposed to her friend who showed off her figure with a short skirt and bared midriff. It was almost as if she was trying to hide that which was remarkable about her.

"It only lasts for a few seconds, and you don't become 'lucky' it just acts like a boost in the completion of a task." Morganna downplayed the significance.

"Whatever you wish to call it, I could not recall my lines last night until you 'inspired' me." Ysabel interjected, causing Morganna to blush as it was suggested that the delivery of this inspiration came from a bit more than a simple touch.

"Ysabel is an actress." Dela explained. "She also plays the harpsichord, and knows how to make instruments. She said she could teach me."

"An actress?" Ciara questioned.

"I hope so, at least." Ysabel replied. She was a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed girl with traces of elven blood in some of her features, although not quite half bred. "I have an audition in Lantan for a company that travels around the region. Morganna and I are getting off there. I was attempting to talk Dela, here, into doing the same."

"I told her that I would think about it." Dela explained. The idea of joining up with these ladies and learning to craft instruments and travel as a merchant definitely held some appeal. "If I could be of help in Thindar…"

"Dela, there will always be calls for adventurers, you can answer it anywhere at any time. If this opportunity sounds at all appealing to you, I think you should take it." Ciara advised. "Besides, getting off this boat may do wonders for your stomach."

"That's true." Dela responded. "However, I did purchase ginger this morning, and after tea with breakfast, I feel much better."

"Does that work?" Ysabel asked her. "I was fine right up until that storm hit, and then…"

"Let us just say it was not pretty." Morganna interrupted.

"Oh? I thought you said everything about me was beautiful?" Ysabel teased.

"That was until I witnessed you expelling things from both ends." Morganna answered back and combed her hand through Ysabel's golden locks. "I love you, sweetie, but not even you can make that look good."

"Last night was hard on many." Ciara interjected. "And, by the way, I think you're gorgeous. According to the druid we met, ginger has a calming effect on nausea. It is not a cure all, but it certainly helps."

Ysabel lit up to Ciara's complement. Ciara only hoped that Morganna didn't take offense. Morganna simply smiled and returned with, "You're fairly stunning, yourself," earning her a glare.

Ciara decided it was a good time to change the subject. "I was actually coming in this way to see if there were any decent novels to read. Sitting on the deck is nice, but there's only so much water I can look at before starting to get bored."

"What type of story are you looking for?" Morganna asked her.

"Something in the action/adventure maybe suspense genre, do you know of any decent authors?"

"Me." Morganna answered. "I only recently finished scribing the first copy of my first book. The binding needs to sit a little longer, but I had hoped to use this store to sell. I know it means offering the merchant a piece of profit, but…"

"How much are you asking for?" Ciara asked.

"20 gold pieces?" She stated, unsure.

"I have that in my cabin if you care to bring it by when it is complete. No middle man required." Ciara assured.

"We're in cabin 3." Dela informed them.

"That would be wonderful!" Morganna smiled and came out of her shell as she explained the plot as they ventured out of the store. "It's a story of a noble girl who wishes to become a cavalier, only the local order refuses to accept her because of her gender. Instead she cuts off all of her hair, and binds her breasts. On the day her vows are sworn a war breaks out, and she is sent off to fight against an invading kabold army."

"Good premise, it sounds like a great read."

Dela backed out of the store paying more attention to the conversation then where she was going and accidentally bumped into a garish looking hunter wrapped in furs with a necklace of teeth who was standing in the middle of the exit with two comrades listening carefully to exaggerated stories.

"Excuse you!" The man, Jedediah, bellowed rudely.

Ciara ushered the girl passed as the man continued his story.

"When I saw the thing just lying out under the sun like it owned the place, I knew it was mine." Jedediah explained. "This tiger was massive, weighing in at almost 350kilos, and a beaut. I could have made a fortune off that pelt, but just could not part with it. To this day it carpets my cabin floor."

"That is poaching!" Ciara heard Ariana yell out from behind the man. She stood up from her seat against the rail. "It did nothing to deserve to be killed."

"It crossed my path, that's enough." He boasted in return.

"That's no reason to take the life of an innocent creature?"

"Innocent?! That beast was a ferocious predator, just like that mangy mutt of yours. I have half a mind to make a pelt outta that."

Ariana stepped in front of Eboni while grasping at her hilt. "They are only ferocious when threatened. You are a coward for attacking when it is prone!"

Ciara felt the tension building and quietly pushed the three girls out of the line of fire. She stayed put herself to see where the conflict went.

The tall husky man marched over toward the five foot, four inch elf standing at least a head taller than her as he pulled out his hunting knife. "Are you calling me a coward?"

Eboni saw the knife, bore her teeth as she growled. "Eboni, daro!" Ariana commanded, prompting the wolf to sit where it stood. Its sapphire eyes still glued on the threat. "I call everything you are, and everything you stand for cowardly."

The man swung, and Ariana dodged out the way as she pulled out her scimitar. Eboni continued growling as Ciara shouted for someone to help break it up. By the time she turned back, both Ariana and the hunter were bleeding and Eboni looked about seconds away from lunging toward the attacker when someone pushed their way through the growing crowd. Silphid pushed the Jedediah away from Ariana, and slammed a fist into the guys gut causing him to collapse forward.

Ciara ran to Ariana's side to try to stanch the bleeding. Who had stepped back and sat down to calm the wolf the moment the hunter was pulled away from her.

"Tis well, I can manage this." Ariana declined the help. She put her own hand over the blood and closed the wound with a spell.

"What the bloody hells is going on down here?" Etienne shoved spectators out of the way to get to the bottom of the commotion. Still reeling from the punch to the gut the hunter was unable to respond, his comrades were quick to point fingers at the elf and her wolf. As they did Ciara became defensive and spoke up in Ariana's defense.

"Halt!" He commanded. "One at a time. Ciara, what is your role in this?"

"As a spectator only. I witnessed the incident from its onset, and called for assistance to prevent fatality." She answered and then pointed toward Dela and her new friends in the front line of the mob. "They can corroborate."

"Very well, what happened?"

Ciara explained how the situation escalated, pointing the finger toward the hunter as the aggressor who was the first to draw his blade. She defended Ariana's ability to keep her companion out of the conflict despite being verbally threatened, and vouched that Silphid stepped in only after her behest with minimal force.

"Tis not what happened!" One of the comrades interjected. "He was provoked and that dog was only moments away from leaping forward and ripping out his throat. I had to lock away my mutt to come aboard, how is this beast not sitting in a crate?"

"Lady Rosewood, did we not say what would happen if your pet could not be controlled?" Etienne asked the elf.

"Eboni did not do anything!" Dela yelled out from the crowd.

"Eboni is not a pet to be controlled." Ariana stated calmly. "I assured the captain that no harm would come to his passengers by her hand unless she was physically threatened. In this case she would respond as you or I would. Although roused by my own emotions, Eboni did as commanded and did not assault this man."

"Ser…" Silphid spoke up. "I came in after the battle started, but at no time did I see the wolf enter combat. Only did I see the lady defending herself until this man was pulled off at which time she disengaged."

"Is this true?" Etienne asked the hunter directly as others in the crowd nodded their confirmation to Silphid's account. He was still hunched over holding his gut, he nodded his agreement before diving for the ledge and throwing up his hearty lunch. Getting the confession he needed, Etienne ordered the comrades to assist the hunter to the infirmary where he would be questioned by the captain once healed.

"Are you well?" Silphid approached Ariana and Ciara as soon as the first mate disappeared along with the hunter and entourage.

"Yes, I appreciate your assistance in the matter." Ariana answered. "Usually I am not so quick to violence, but that man represents everything I abhor about humanity."

"Do not take his attitude as a true representation of humanity, I beg you." Ciara responded.

Ariana took a moment to consider the people that came to both hers and Eboni's defense, especially this man that she had only seen once or twice before who literally put himself between her and a blade without a weapon in his own hand. "You acted bravely." She stated surely to the stranger.

Ciara thought she saw his cheeks flush as he brushed off the compliment with a shrug. As far as he was concerned there was nothing heroic about answering a lady's call of distress, battling a dragon was a different matter, but breaking up a conflict was expected. Silphid offered his hand to help Ariana to her feet and started asking question about the wolf as Ciara joined Dela and the others to sit down for lunch.

"And what would you have done if he would have come after you?" Morganna asked Ciara as they debated the wisdom of her getting herself involved in the conflict.

Ciara pulled the dagger from the holster on her thigh. "That's what this is for."

"You don't think you could actually kill someone?" Dela looked alarmed.

"If I had to." Ciara flashed back to the moment with Edgar in the hotel room. "Isn't that what the training in Thindar is for? To learn how to defend ourselves against potential threats?"

"Animals and magical beasts, maybe." Dela answered. "But not humans."

Ciara shook her head. "Evil comes in all forms, humans especially. As mistaken as it is for Ariana to not trust any of them, it is just as much so for you to trust all of them."

"I don't trust everyone!" Dela insisted. "I just don't think we should go around murdering people."

Ciara picked at the dinner roll she was holding before throwing it down. "I'm tired, I am going to go lie down." She announced before getting up to walk away.

"Ciara, wait…" Dela stood from her chair. "I didn't mean…"

Ciara turned back long enough to assure the girl that she was fine, merely tired from the previous night. Della looked up to her, cared about and trusted her, but wondered what the girl would think if she knew the truth of what she had done. Ariana seemed to understand, 'kill or be killed', it was the way of the wild, she described Eboni's instinct much the same way, but was that instinct was valid when adding the human conscience? Ciara shook off the thought, it was him or her, and she made a decision she could live with.

"_You have been found guilty of crimes committed against our race and are hereby stricken of your powers and sentenced to life in captivity, should another attempt occur it will be your death." A large woman with braided golden hair decreed. _

_Another figure pointed towards the accused and let off a scarlet ray beam as the tiny figures in the distance cried out for help just moments before everything went dark and silent. _

"Ciara, are you well?" Dela shook her friend awake.

"Huh? What? What happened?" She asked in confusion as she sat up to acclimate herself.

"You were dreaming." Ysabel answered from the doorway. "It must have been a doozy, we could hear you all the way down the hall."

"Gods, what did I say?"

Dela shrugged. "We couldn't make out anything, merely senseless screaming. Are you alright?"

"We were worried when you left so abruptly." Morganna added.

"I believe so." Ciara wiped a hand down her face as she tried to make sense out of the dream that was quickly fading from her memory, leaving her with a familiar feeling of forebodance. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Morganna answered. "The book is ready."

'This is going to completely mess up my sleep schedule' she thought to herself and reached to accept the novel. The cover was an expertly painted picture of a young girl in a breastplate on horseback. The features similar to Morganna's only with her hair flowing down and an air of confidence in her posture. She wondered how telling the story was of hidden fantasies of the writer. "Did you do this?"

"No, I have a friend who paints. She created ten covers for me before we left to start getting this out. Usually she does portraits for fee, but she told me to consider this an investment."

Ciara nodded as she realized just how much this ship was about each person aboard fulfilling their own dreams, she only wished that it wasn't nightmares that she was apparently chasing down. She dug into her chest to pull out the gold pieces.

"I'm sorry I kept you up last night." Dela injected as she realized just how tired Ciara appeared.

Ciara shook her head. "It's not your fault, it's been a trying few days, but no need to fret last I saw the sun was still shinning in the spring air. We should go to the dock and enjoy this."

"I overheard there may be another storm this night." Dela muttered.

Ysabel groaned. "Then Ciara is right, perhaps we should enjoy this while we can."

On the lower deck passengers were still muttering about the earlier conflict, each with their own opinion, although many believed the wolf to be a liability. According to the gossip, the hunter, Jedediah, suffered cracked ribs due to Silphid's interference. He had been healed, and placed in isolation for the next 24 hours due to behavior. Ciara saw Ariana seated with only her wolf as company, only completely content in this as she brushed through her long dark straight hair and expertly braided the front hairs out of her face.

"She seems… odd." Ysabel remarked as she caught Ciara observing the elf.

"No more odd here than you or I put in the middle of the jungle." Ciara commented back. The girl accepted the statement, knowing full well she would be a mess alone in the wilderness. She flourished around crowds of people as the center of attention.

Silphid was seated at a table with the same crew of wagerers. "Ciara, over here!"

There was grumbling from the table as Ysabel pushed her in that direction. It was noticeable to her that her new friend and the beefy man had an affinity for each other. "Would you like to play?" Ciara asked noticing Dela and Morganna head towards the shops.

"Not this time, I should…" She pointed towards the other. "Go enjoy yourself."

"How much to buy in?" Ciara questioned the rat folk dealer, Djin.

"Standard copper." He replied shortly. Silphid pulled out the seat to his left for her to sit down. "Remember this, girl, ain't no one gonna go easy on you 'cause of your bits."

"That's good, then I won't have to go easy on you for yours." She replied disgusted by the insinuation. There were plenty of males that entered the brothel with the same opinion of the 'lesser' gender, especially of those that could be called 'whore'.

"She's a feisty one, I like it." The half-orc that had approached her the previous evening commented. His name was Gnarg, and although a bit bold he was harmless and more witty than she would have expected a half-orc to be.

Djin dealt the first hand, and all but Ivan raised, or at least that's what she thought his name was. Ivan was a small, quiet, tanned skinned lad with well defined muscles and a cleanly shaved head. He was polite and answered when directly spoken to; however, rarely volunteered information. He didn't demonstrate a physical tell as much as he played conservatively, rarely taking a change if not appeased with his initial cards. Ciara watched Djin attempt an inconspicuous slight of hand instead fumbling over his cards causing one to land face up on the table.

"I told you he was hoarding aces!" Dok yelled out.

"A simple mistake, I'm sure." Ciara reached for the card and shuffled it into the deck, she locked eyes with the ratfolk indicating to him that she knew exactly what had just happened. "Should we attempt a new hand?"

"Only if I deal." Rogar commented. In which Ciara handed him the deck. Silphid divvied the currency back to its respective owners. Ciara held onto the dropped ace that she had slipped out while shuffling as a message to the rat to not belittle her. After rounds of betting, Ciara won the pot with five of the same suit. Djin saw the Ace of diamonds and nodded. Just then a boat rocked hard throwing tankards and cards off the table and crashing down. Silphid grabbed onto Ciara as she fell into him.

"What was that?" Ciara asked once she acquired her balance. Silphid was already up and moving to the side of the boat to get a better view. He looked down to see a giant tentacle grabbed suctioned onto the ship and moments later another slammed the ship sideways.

"Octopus, Giant octopus!" He heard a crewman call out as spears were removed from their hooks.

"Give me one!" Silphid urged.

Without hesitation the crewman handed out fifteen long spears and eight light crossbows to anyone willing to help. Ciara tried her hand with the cross bow, feeling more comfortable with the ranged weapon in hand. Spears and bolts were being poked at the creature as it resisted the strikes to come aboard. With two tentacles over the side of the ship it pulled its head into view and bite a crewman who fell to the ground. Ciara ran out of bolts, so she dropped the crossbow and took out her dagger to stick it from behind. As she did a tentacle stabbed into her side. Silphid pulled out the great sword on his belt and hacked into the creatures brain ceasing all movement.

"Ciara?" Silphid called out as she cradled her bloody side. He held her up and walked her to the infirmary. "I'm going to get you some help."

In the med cabin were a couple passenger's barfing in a bucket and a few more brought in with breaks and cuts from the initial crash. The healer was tending to what appeared to be a compound fracture to the left ulna caused by slamming into the deck. The healer glanced over a pointed to a bed.

"There's gauze over their. Keep pressure on the wound." She instructed Silphid who looked around in bewilderment until Ciara pointed him over to the correct cabinet.

Minutes later the unconscious crew member was carried down. He had been stabilized, but still unconscious and believed to be poisoned. The crewman took priority as he was restored to consciousness with a healing spell, and admitted to feeling quite weak. Unfortunately the young healer, who had been taking care of sick and injured passengers all day had used up her magically resources to restore his strength, but assured the man that the venom would run through his system in time. The bleeding had stopped by the time the healer made her way over to Ciara. A hand was placed over the wound and a prayer was said causing a warm glow to seal the cut.

"Which god?" Ciara questioned, recognizing the girl as a holy disciple.

"I serve the Water Lord, himself, Istishia." The girl, Arlyn, showed of the wave on her sigil.

"My thanks to both you and he, then." Ciara stood from her bed.

"Maybe you shouldn't…" Silphid suggested.

"I am well healed." She stated. "My thanks to you, too. You carry quite the swing, my Lord. Can't help but be the hero?"

"You looked pretty heroic yourself." Silphid complimented back. "That was quite the jab you gave."

Ciara shrugged. "It was distracted."

"Apparently, not distracted enough." Arlyn commented in jest, before attending the the sick with a wet cloth behind the neck. "You are free to stay and rest if you would like."

She declined the offer, instead eager to get back to the deck and survey the damage as the sun started to set and the storm clouds appeared in the sky.

"Ciara, what happened? Someone said you had been hurt?" Morganna rushed towards her. The creatures carcass still lied on the lower deck as the cook contemplated his ability to store and prepare the meat.

"All healed and better then ever, I promise." Ciara assured her. "Where's Dela and Ysabel?"

"Sipping tea." Morganna answered.

'Oh joy, already?' Ciara thought to herself. "How did they fare during the attack?"

"It rumbled some stomaches." She lead Ciara to the two girls seating in the dining area coddled in a blanket with mugs of ginger tea in hand.

"How was the game?" Ysabel asked her as she sipped the mug with an arm wrapped over her stomach.

Ciara chuckled. "My winnings went tumbling onto the floor along with the boys' ale. I believe they were more devastated."

"Its a wonder how any can imbibe ale aboard this vessel." Ysabel commented turning green at the thought of adding alcohol into the mix.

"Perhaps we should try keeping our mind off the peril. Morganna, do you mind if I read your tale?" Ciara asked pulling out the book, offering to read it out loud.

"Not at all." She snuggled next to Ysabel under the covers.

Ciara read as the night grew dark, Dela provided light as they all listened intently to the first few chapters. Ysabel was the first to fall to fatigue when they decided to call it a night.


End file.
